Plasco misses final financing deadline for waste-to-energy plant

The city of Ottawa’s long-term waste conversion agreement with Plasco Energy Group has not been automatically terminated, now that the company has failed to meet the final deadline to secure financing to build a plant to turn waste to energy in the city by 2016, according to city manager Kent Kirkpatrick.

In a memorandum to city council, Mr. Kirkpatrick wrote Friday the city does have the option to “terminate the agreement at its discretion.”

City council will have the final say. A staff report will be tabled at the next environment committee meeting Feb. 17.

On Oct. 31, the city sent Plasco a 60-day formal written notice requiring the company to prove it could either fund or finance the plant’s construction.

The Dec. 31 deadline was the third for Plasco. The original deadline in March of 2013 was first extended to Aug. 31, 2013. Since then, the company has struggled to find the necessary financing and has seen its longtime CEO and chairman, Rod Bryden, leave the company.

In December 2011, Mr. Bryden said it would be difficult for the company to remain headquartered in Ottawa if it failed to secure a contract with the city.

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George

January 07, 2015 - 11:09

The City of Ottawa ought to ship garbage to Plasco's prototype plasma incinerator facility and run some tests before committing a further penny to a company that is 1.75 years behind schedule. Until Plasco shows something, this initiative can be filed under `applied science fiction,' and serious plasma gas vendors such as Westinghouse should be considered instead.